The 10th High (Waiting for You)
by Zinfandelli
Summary: Post-Fight. Jack NEEDS to tell Jamie about all the fun he is having! Too bad Jamie takes it the wrong way when the sprite bounces in dripping blood all down his chin. (After the 9th, 2 yrs before 17 & 18. Also Older!Jamie)


And suddenly everything was clear as ice crystals to the boy. It was Fun! This was his kind of fun!

Mischievous, dangerous, heart-pounding fun.

A touch of fear in the mix made it all the better. He wondered briefly if Pitch knew he had slight twinges of excited fear every time they battled? He must right? The man knew all of his darkest worries to begin with (As he used to reacquaint him with them multiple times in their earlier fights), why not this kind of fear too? Jack was no fear expert but if knowing fear was anything to Pitch like fun was to him, then sure. Why not?

He was giddy from the fight. He totally lost he knew it, but it was amazing! It was winter in the northern hemisphere again and in his excitement he bolted straight to Burgess to confide in his absolute best friend.

Jamie was nearly 19 now and still strong with belief. It was so reassuring to Jack to find that Jamie of all people didn't stop seeing him and their relationship continued strongly every winter (and on those chilly days in spring, summer, and fall). He unwisely but stubbornly housed so much personal strength on the boy's shoulders he sometimes feared for himself that way too.

Jamie came home now for winter break as Christmas was only 2 weeks away. Jack, not surprised to find the boy's window cracked open ever so slightly in the dark, perched on the outside sill for a minute watching his friend obliviously absorbed in a book on his bed. He flew half way around the world from dawning morning to late evening just to be here before the kid went to bed.

With a greeting of a cold breeze through the crack to warn Jamie of his arrival, Jack eased the window open to let himself in. He was grinning ear to ear. "Hey James!"

"Oh my god, Jack!"

That certainly wasn't the reaction he was expecting. Wasn't the boy happy to see him? "W-what?" he spluttered frozen stiff in the open window.

"Your face! Your face is all bloody! Are you ok?!" The kid leapt from his bed after the initial shock and rushed over to his side gingerly reaching out his fingers to inspect.

Jack flinched away ever so slightly and that gave Jamie pause. He kept his hands hovering close however.

"oh…OH! Oh yeah Jamie! It was great, dat's why I came-b! You scared be for a binute. Dis is nothin'. Just a brokeb bose." He laughed through his throat, his nose currently off-limits for such activity. It had utterly slipped from his mind that he was fresh out of a fight with gashes, bruises, and scrapes that any human might be rushed to a hospital for. Grinning again he finally let himself into the room quickly closing the window behind him without looking back.

"B-broken-" Jamie gasped and stood back. His believer was taller and broader than Jack now, and he looked down at him folding his arms over his chest uncertainly. "How?"

And that was his cue! Jack jumped back and perched on Jamie's desk gesturing grandly, staff in hand and eyes glinting. "Pitch punched be square ib da face! Hilarious right?!"

His face blanched. "Pitch?! He's back?! Wh-what are you even doing here?! Did you defeat him already is that why? That's crazy!" Jamie babbled and Jack laughed his nasally broken nose laugh again.

"No, no squirt! Pitch mbever left you know? We've been battlin' for like six years ndow. How old are you againd? "

This was tough for him. Jamie pulled his desk chair out and sat down on it backwards resting his arms on the back facing Jack, his face stern. "Nineteen, Jack. You've been fighting consta-"

"Eight years den! It's great! It's so buch FUND!"

"Jack!"

"Wh-what?"

"Fighting Pitch is FUN?! You're sitting here with a broken bloody frozen nose!"

"-ah…" Jack's grin disappeared. He watched Jamie tentatively, tensing to take off. That was the same look in his best friend's eyes that _they_ had a few years ago. "I-it's not dat big a deal Jambie…I just re-set it and it'll heal in like a week…." His voice lost its gusto and he folded his arms in front of himself too in an unconsciously defensive gesture.

"No, Jack Don't. I'm not mad at you. I'm just worried about you. You know I care for you. Let me go and get some warm water and a towel to clean you up. Don't run away while I'm gone, I'll be right back." Jamie stood and quickly left the room shutting his door behind him to try and keep Sophie oblivious to the visit.

Jack sat on the desk now taking his feet out from under him and sighed. He never disobeys Jamie if he can help it…even though he really wanted flee right now. He thought Jamie would understand and be just as excited as he was! That excitement quickly drained out of him in the calm silence of the boy's room. The battle rush seeped out of his mind and the aches set in. Jack groaned a little feeling the stiffness in his limbs and the soreness of his other wounds. Nothing quite as bad as his nose but damn Pitch was rough. He liked it. The pain sorta…made him feel alive.

Rolling his shoulders while building his resolve gingerly Jack reached up to his face and touched his nose, hissing at the stings his touch sent through it. He slowly began to pick the frozen blood from his skin and tossed it into the trash can by Jamie's desk that he hooked over to himself with his toes. Once the area was pretty clear of all the chunky icy debris he reached his other hand up and cupped his nose between his fingers. His flesh was cold and his blood was chilled, but his fingers still felt like an ice-pack upon the tender broken skin and he sighed slightly in relief letting his fingers rest there for a moment.

He paused closing his eyes and reveled in the sensation. He had many injuries in his lifetime and spent days and weeks recovering from so few yet cherished encounters. The wounds never scarred. He never had any proof of actions taken against him. Never any confirmation that anything he did or anything done to him actually happened. His nose would be the same and he briefly, morbidly, wished that it would stay disfigured. If he didn't reset it what would happen? He knew though. He knew that it would eventually re-set itself in a rather painful and drawn out way. Better just to speed the whole process up and spare himself the agony.

Breathing deeply for a minute more he braced himself mentally before aligning his palms together. He inhaled through his mouth and upon his exhale he quickly and deftly maneuvered his fingers down his nose realigning. "Aw Shit!"

"Wh-what! Jack?!" Jamie came bursting through the door water sloshing out of the bowl in a panic.

But there he was. The spirit of winter siting on his desk leaning forward catching the blood dripping from his face and freezing it in his palms.

"Oh my god Jack what happened?"

"Just re-setting my nose. No big. Hurts like a bitch though."

Jamie smiled tightly. Being around modern kids has sure made Jack's language colorful. Maybe it was because Jamie was older now that Jack didn't feel the need to censor his speech.

"How's it look? Straight enough?"

"Y-yeah…. that's really gross dude."

"Hahaha, I know right? Centuries of practice!" Jack was smiling again, and his blood was staining his chin again already starting to freeze to his skin in drippy grisly red icicles.

Jamie was exasperated. But he sighed through it once again and approached jack setting the bowl beside him on the desk and reaching for the cloth soaking in the warm water.

The winter spirit let him gingerly touch at his face. He closed his eyes and hummed in approval. "It's so warmb."

"Not too hot?"

"Perfect."

And Jamie quietly dabbed the blood from his face and neck.

After about a half a half hour of tender ministrations Jamie replaced the cloth into the red slushy mess of a bowl for the final time. "Now. Explain this to me again…?"

"Well…ok…You know…" Jack was hesitant. The air was flowing a bit better through his nose already and his silly nasally accent was less noticeable. He didn't know how to word this properly even in his own head; to condone his own thoughts…"Fear can never be destroyed. Remember that?"

"Yeah…?"

"Well it wasn't. Isn't. The Boogeyman is still there even if you don't see him you know. You just don't believe he exists."

Jamie swallowed hard.

"Or didn't…" Jack paused with a guilty grin on his face. He just helped Pitch out with that one. "You can be scared Jamie. I was…still am sometimes. Being afraid isn't the same as being in danger. Pitch Black is just doing his job. Has been ever since we defeated him. Nightmares just don't go away either. New ones are born every night 24/7 they are as vast and numerous as the subconciousnesses that create them. Don't look like that Jamie…It's been like that since history began and will continue."

Jack paused. This was all flowing out rather eloquently to his surprise. "You know one of my duties is to dispatch them. I do. I do it well, so don't be too scared, they won't be after you unless you invite them. Pretty courteous actually. Anyways. So I've been fighting Pitch for the past 8 years. Probably uh….around 10 actual confrontations so far. We're keeping score."

"Score?"

"Yeah, the tally is 6-3 with one draw. I'm winning!"

"Winning…."

"Oh shut up. It _Fun_ Jamie."

"Now that's the part I don't get. How can fighting your worst enemy be any sort of fun?" His look was skeptical, but it made jack laugh.

"I was pretty confused for a few years too. But I figured it out tonight! That's why I came, I was so excited I needed to tell someone and Pitch left as soon as the sun came over the horizon. It's fun because it is! Fighting is fun! It's just like a snowball fight but with weapons! Dodging, ducking, weaving, charging. It is exciting and it scares me." That wasn't a fearful admission though, as Jamie took note. Jack was still beaming, His bruised blue and black nose making the image grotesque.

"But that's bad Jack! If it's scary why do it? Why not let the others help to take him down for good?"

"No! You don't understand Jamie. I Like it. It's like the kind of scared you get whennnn….You go see a scary movie! Or go too fast when skiing! It's like a rush of adrenaline and I think I'm addicted."

Jamie laughed now. "I think you need help!"

"Do not!"

"No…but I guess I do get it a little, Jack…Just be careful alright? Isn't Pitch supposed to be like…the supreme evil?"

"I'm always careful!" He laughed as well. Jamie always knew how to make him feel best. "And I dunno…I don't think Pitch is that evil-" Jack snapped his mouth shut.

"Did you seriously just say that?"

"Woah…uh…" Jack flapped his lips uselessly for a minute taking that all in. "Wow…that's a surprise to me too James! But…Yeah! Why not? Yeah. He doesn't seem so bad! The only time he really tried to kill me was during the big take-over and the first time we fought afterwards." He always neglected to mention that encounter in Antarctica, never once telling Jamie of that conversation.

"Isn't that enough?"

"Nah dude. I've had guys trying to kill me for the better half of two centuries. Comes with being mischievoussssssss" He drawled out the world dramatically, but Jamie didn't laugh.

Jack every so often hinted at his life before they met. All those lonely years before the guardians and Pitch. Jamie tried to get him to tell him those stories but Jack rarely did. He did know that Jack's nature brought the wrath of countless other spirits upon his head from what he thought were harmless light-hearted jokes. Jack never told Jamie though who or what those other spirits were. He told the boy years ago that he wanted to keep all of Jamie's belief just for himself so he wouldn't let him believe in other spirits! Childish it seemed at the time, but Jamie grew wiser over the years.

Jack smiled warmly and put his hand on Jamie's shoulder. "Thanks for the help James. And thanks for listening. The others, " He always referred to the other guardian's as the others, and Jamie subconsciously adopted that trait as well " Got really upset about it when I told them so I haven't said a word about it again."

"I know they are just worried about you like I am, Jack."

"Yeah I know that too. Their seriousness really gets me down sometimes." He grins. "Anyways! Gotta be off. Gonna take a nap for my nose then start something fun! It's always 5 o'clock somewhere!"

Jack said leaping to his feet and sauntering over to the window, turning back to Jamie as he perched on the sill. "Thanks again, man. I'll visit before you go back to school."

"Yeah. Have fun."

"Always do!" And with that he was gone.


End file.
